Sheridan said to some people the theft of items from her infant son Hayden's grave might seem like a minor theft.

"But to me and my husband and my family it was so much more," she told Mansfield Municipal Court Judge Jerry Ault.

"I lost my son at 14 months old after I watched him fight for 16 weeks to live," she said of her son who was born premature and who was a triplet.

"The day we lost him was absolutely the worst day of my life and it still haunts me to this day and it's been almost eight years. When we buried Hayden, where he is laid to rest, we never thought this would happen. I thought most people had enough self respect and respect for others not to steal but to steal off a little boy's grave is unthinkable, inexcusable in my opinion," Sheridan said.

"I watch my eight-year-old daughter get upset when she sees things stolen. She takes great pride in helping me decorate his site on holidays. He's not here with me earthly and the only place I have to decorate is his (grave) site and I should be able to put whatever I want out there with restrictions from the cemetery," Sheridan said.

Frieda Kay Shade, the woman accused of taking a stuffed animal from an infant's grave in an Ontario cemetery, stood in Mansfield Municipal Court this morning and did not show emotion.

Moments before, Shade entered an Alford plea with her attorney by her side in Judge Jerry Ault's courtroom, entering the plea to one count of theft, a first-degree misdemeanor.

An Alford plea is entered as part of a plea bargain by a criminal defendant who denies committing the crime or who does not actually admit his guilt.

Ault ordered a presentence investigation and a mental health assessment and said Shade would be sentenced later.

This summer, Ontario police charged Shade, 54, of Mansfield, with stealing items from a baby's gravesite at Mansfield Memorial Park.

Detective Jon Sigler said Shade turned herself in in April, and that she told authorities she took a stuffed toy duck from the grave of Hayden "Tank" Cole Sheridan because a dog was running loose in the area and she didn't want it to destroy the toy.

Sigler said several people came forward and identified Shade as the suspect after a video camera the police had set up near the gravesite captured footage of a woman taking the toy. The footage was shared on social media, where it was viewed thousands of times.

According to Mansfield Municipal Court records, Shade has made several appearances in court for criminal and civil charges, including passing bad checks, unauthorized use of property and evictions.

Earlier, Scott Sheridan, father of Hayden, who died in 2007, and his wife said they believe the grave has been targeted by thieves over the years; stolen items have included flowers, wreaths and toy tanks. That led the Ontario Police Department to set up the surveillance camera, a kind typically used by hunters, near the gravesite in July 2012.

"They've definitely experienced enough theft over the years to make them feel that way," Sigler said earlier of the Sheridans. "In 2012, they noticed some solar lights were gone when all the graves around had theirs."

"I don't know if we would have gotten this case solved without that," Sigler said of the Facebook video posting. "The scenario is bizarre. It's really weird.

"We recognized (the camera's) utility long ago and use it whenever possible. It has motion detection, night vision. It really serves a purpose," he said.

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Jaclyn Sheridan shows members of the media a shirt with the photo of her son Hayden on it after speaking in Municipal Court on Wednesday.
(Photo:
Jason J. Molyet/News Journal
)

Jaclyn Sheridan said her family went to Hayden's grave on Easter and saw the stuffed duck was gone.

Jaclyn said the video footage has shown people showing their respect at his grave, too.

Earlier this summer, Scott Sheridan said the family will continue leaving items on his son's grave.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "That way we feel we're including him even though he's passed away. We feel this is the one spot where we can do that."